Pages

December 21, 2011

It started out back in 2009 as a water feature -- a half-barrel to catch the water that flowed through the rainchain from the roof gutters. We found a waterproofed half-barrel at a garden center, where we also bought the marginal aquatic plants, Dwarf Giant Papyrus, Powdery Thalia, and Pickerelweed. We got a lotus bulb but it never woke up.

Pickerelweed

We weren’t really planning on having fish in the barrel but stagnant water would mean breeding ground for mosquitoes. So, I assigned a couple of Goldfishes and a Platy from our aquarium to take care of the mosquito larvae that could populate the barrel. All went well until winter came.

January 2010 was fierce; it froze the barrel, together with everything in it. I was devastated, not only because the fish and most of the plants died, but also because it didn’t even occur to me that I actually had the means to prevent the imminent disaster.

Frozen water. See dead fish in the center of the photo.

The following winter, I was prepared. As soon as the weather cooled down, I put an aquarium heater in the barrel and made sure that the setting was just right – no ice cube fishies, but no fish stew either. Everyone survived.

Last summer, I added more fish. I introduced a few tropical livebearers, both male and female, and let nature take its course. The barrel is now teeming with Guppies, Platys, and Swordtails.

We had our first chilly morning a few weeks ago, and no, we didn’t forget to install the heater. We won't let Mother Winter mess with our pets again, even if they are fish in a barrel.

It was essentially a basic course on DSLR photography – understanding
ISO, aperture, shutter speed, metering, etc., and knowing how to control them
in your camera. I knew all that, since I’ve had my Canon Rebel T2i for more
than a year and my Canon S3IS for a couple of years before that. I was really more curious about the workshop
itself (how it would be conducted) rather than the photography basics.

Surprisingly, at the end of the day, I actually learned
something important and photography-related. Our wonderful (she was awesome!) facilitator was professional
photographer Stephanie Adriana. After listening to her share her shooting techniques and personal
experiences, I discovered that there was, indeed, an easy and methodical way to
shoot in Manual mode.

Stephanie at location shooting.

My action shot in "shutter priority" mode.

So, wow, I can now shoot, quite confidently, in Manual mode! No
more getting nervous and rattled and defaulting to Auto mode when shooting in a
pinch! I would say that’s a lesson that was worth more than what I paid for that
6-hour workshop. The chance to mingle with fellow camera enthusiasts was a
bonus. Getting a laminated cheat sheet from the workshop -- priceless.

Below are some of the photos I shot after the workshop, all in easy-peasy manual mode, without the headache from second-guessing the camera settings (click on any image for a high-res slideshow of all photos). Thank you, Stephanie!

Our bikes in the driveway on an overcast day.

The hot-air balloon ride at Downtown Disney, where we had our location shooting.